Different components to success in a doctoral thesis in the humanities and social sciences, especially in social communication. Calendar and possible structure of a doctoral thesis in social communication. General characterization of an academic research. General structure of deliverables. Critical factors for success in academic publications (papers). Structure and quality criteria in papers. Criteria and sources for selecting magazines. The golden rule: evidence-based research requires frequent use of CRAI/UPF Library resources. General advices about how to conduct a doctoral thesis. Selected references in how to do a doctoral thesis, literary reviews, case studies and how to synthetize results.